#California legislature passes 10-yr. extension to cap and trade!

After weeks of negotiations in the California legislature, the Senate and Assembly passed an extension to cap and trade on July 17. This is a win for California’s climate leadership and for green building. USGBC actively supported the cap-and-trade extension, as one of the state’s key strategies to reach its SB 32 goal to reduce emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2030. The extension package includes two bills: AB 398 extends and modifies the cap-and-trade bill that took effect in 2012 and AB 617 adds provisions for air quality control in priority areas. AB 398 was signed into law this week by Gov. Jerry Brown in San Francisco, and AB 617 was signed near Los Angeles. The modifications to cap and trade will take effect in 2020 and continue through 2030. Learn more about how cap and trade works . Air quality controls To address the issue of air quality in at-risk com...